Galway Dog Club

Schutzhund is a dog sport that was developed in Germany in the early 1900s to test whether German Shepherd Dogs act and perform in the manner that the breed was intended, rather than simply evaluating a dog's appearance. Today, many breeds other than GSDs can compete in Schutzhund, but it is a demanding test for any dog and few of them can pass this kind of test.

Traits of Schutzhund Dogs

Schutzhund (German for "protection dog") tests dogs of all breeds for the traits necessary for police-type work. Dogs that pass Schutzhund tests should be suitable for a wide variety of tasks: police work, specific odor detection, search and rescue, and many others. The purpose of Schutzhund is to identify dogs that have or do not have the character traits required for these demanding jobs. Some of those traits are:

1.     Strong desire to work
2.     Courage
3.     Intelligence
4.     Trainability
5.     Strong bond to the handler
6.     Perseverance
7.     Protective Instinct

Schutzhund training tests these traits. It also tests physical traits such as strength, endurance, agility, and scenting ability. The goal of Schutzhund is to illuminate the character of a dog through training. Breeders can use this insight to determine how and whether to use the dog in producing the next generation of working dogs.